1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to modular insulating concrete forms of the type which receive poured concrete and are abandoned in place after pouring, thereby becoming an integral part of a static structure being built. The invention is particularly applicable to residential and light commercial construction. The novel forms are usable by homeowners, contractors, municipal, industrial, and institutional personnel in building and improving existing structures wherever insulated load bearing walls are to be built from poured concrete.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Left-in-place insulting concrete forms for building foundations and load bearing walls from poured concrete are known. In commercial practice, courses of forms are stacked until the final desired height of a wall is attained. Concrete is poured into the erected forms and allowed to cure. Erection of multi-course forms prior to pouring concrete must be carefully performed. It is necessary that the forms be properly aligned with respect to one another to assure that finished wall surfaces are flat and flush. Also, opposing exterior panels of each form section must be held in place without distortion of overall configuration of the form. Foundations and walls usually describe a closed perimeter. That is, a foundation or building wall has typically four sides, although this may vary, which sides intersect at corners.
One of the significant problems with prior art forms is that they are not designed such that location of tie brackets coincides with the ends of standard building elements. Illustratively, sheets of plywood and gypsum wall board are provided with length of eight feet and width of four feet. If a form section has tie brackets and associated plates or flanges, which plate or flange serves as a structural member which can receive driven and threaded fasteners, located at each end of the form section, abutment of two form sections results in abutting plates or flanges. This arrangement typically disturbs regular spacing of tie brackets, and makes it difficult to properly locate fastening positions for attaching building elements to the form.
Another problem is that the prior art has not provided corner forms which are conducive to laying a wall in increments of four feet, as measured from the outside corner, as is frequent commercial practice. Prior art forms typically require shortening by cutting to accommodate building walls laid out in increments of four feet.
The prior art has not devoted significant effort to is designing forms to accommodate the various problems which are associated with corners of forms. In most cases, the thrust of prior art forms concentrates on maintaining perpendicularity or roundness of the corner, as the particular design may warrant. Examples are seen in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,706,429 and 4,866,891, issued to David A. Young respectively on Nov. 17, 1987, and Sep. 19, 1989, and 4,949,515, issued to Edmond D. Krecke on Aug. 21, 1990. Young shows corner forms which accommodate rounded corners. Krecke shows bracing at perpendicular corners. These prior art designs are not conducive to building in four foot increments and also fail to show an optional vertical corner bracket shown in the present invention.
None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed.
The present invention provides a corner form which both enables ready installation of construction elements such as sheets of plywood fabricated in increments of four feet and also enables walls and foundations to be laid out in increments of four feet. These goals are accomplished by locating reinforcing brackets at one foot intervals measured from the corner, and by providing overall length dimensions of the legs which when summed equal increments of four feet in combined lengths. The corner form interlocks with both the corner form directly below and also with a straight form directly below which abuts the lower corner form. This is an important advance in the art since overall straightness and integrity of the corner and other sections final foundation or wall formed by filling the form with concrete are significantly better than those of prior art forms lacking the inventive features.
Each form has tie brackets connecting inner and outer insulating panels. Each tie bracket has a flange disposed parallel to its associated panel which serves both as an embedded anchor fixing the tie bracket solidly to each insulating panel and also as a structural member which can receive threaded and driven fasteners for installing standard building elements to the built up form. Outermost tie brackets are located well inside the ends of the form so that abutment of adjacent form sections avoids interference of adjacent tie brackets. The tie brackets are located at one foot intervals, the first being one half foot from the end of the form, thereby placing the first tie bracket of two adjoining forms at a one foot interval, maintaining a constant spacing.
The corner form has interfitting projections formed in the upper surface of the form and corresponding notches formed in the lower surface thereof. Each notch is located directly below a projection. Projections of one form come to seat within the notches of a form placed thereon.
The interlocking projections and notches are located on each form such that forms can be placed both directly above one another, and more preferably, in overlapping orientation, and will still interlock. The projections and notches are spaced apart at intervals appropriate for forming walls in increments of four feet. This feature is likely to save considerable time and effort in erecting walls because many contemporary residential and commercial designs are predicated on increments of four feet.
In a further aspect, the present invention sets forth a construction of the corner incorporating a vertical open shaft for receiving a reinforcement element, such as metal pipe. This feature assists in maintaining even and solid a wall built up from stacked courses of form sections. An optional, structurally strong vertical reinforcing and attachment bracket may be imbedded into the area of the open shaft and occupies the corner of a corner form, in place of the open shaft.
Accordingly, it is one object of the invention to provide a corner form which accommodates walls and foundations laid out in increments of four feet.
An additional object of the invention is to enable ready placement and fastening of standard building elements such as plywood and gypsum wall board based upon dimensions in increments of four feet.
Yet another object of the invention is to minimize the amount of cutting and modifying of forms which is necessary.
It is another object of the invention to be able to interlock form sections while overlapping one form over another.
Still another object of the invention is to provide an optional vertical reinforcing and attachment bracket which occupies the corner of a corner form.
It is an object of the invention to provide improved elements and arrangements thereof in an apparatus for the purposes described which is inexpensive, dependable and fully effective in accomplishing its intended purposes.
These and other objects of the present invention will become readily apparent upon further review of the following specification and drawings.